Transversing Through Time
by Girl Of Hope
Summary: WARNING: IN THE STORY BELOW THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS OF EPISODE FIVE, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED OR WATCHED SOMEONE PLAY THIS EPISODE. How Max gets out of this mess, and what she has to sacrifice to do so. She hates that she even has to do all of this. Rating for death, drugs and explicit swearing.


_**WARNING: IN THE STORY BELOW THERE ARE MAJOR SPOILERS OF EPISODE FIVE, DO NOT READ IF YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED OR WATCHED SOMEONE PLAY THIS EPISODE. I WILL NOT TOLERATE PEOPLE SAYING I SPOILED THIS FOR THEM, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!**_

Max knew she wasn't 'normal' by any means, now. She had watched her best friend, Chloe Price die three times in a little less than five days. First, in the school bathroom, then Max made the choice to honour her wishes in that alternate reality where Chloe was paralysed and a failing respiratory system too boot. The third time happened the day before Max current present, Mark Jefferson had shot her, which while Max was still half drugged he claimed it was in 'self defence'.

All of those times, she had rewound time. Chloe was alive, but the tornado was now in full force, sweeping over Arcadia Bay, leaving masses of bodies in its destruction. Warren, Joyce, Frank (and his dog, Pompadu) and Max hunkered inside of the Two Wales Diner.

Everyone she had thought she knew had changed in five days, most were dead now, and this tornado didn't make thinking any easier.

When the tornado first hit, Max had been in Seattle, she changed the past to ensure she won the 'Everyday Heroes' contest, then had Jefferson arrested along with Nathan.

But in the real reality of when the crazy shit started happening (and one where Chloe was still dead), she defended Nathan. Yes, he had overdosed Rachel Amber; but it was Jefferson who had brainwashed Nathan, and stuck the idea of a Father-son relationship with the troubled nineteen year old because his real father was a straight up rich fuck, who was a dickhead to anyone who crossed his path. That included his own two children.

Max heard the urgency in Nathan's voice when he had left her a voicemail, he knew he wouldn't survive around Jefferson. He had apologised for everything, killing Rachel, nearly killing Kate and drugging her, everything with Max and Chloe. He wasn't a bad person, he just fucked up big time with his mistakes and who he fell in with.

She had played the message over several times while driving to the diner; she had left David with Jefferson who had been shot in the skull from one very pissed off former marine for killing his step daughter. Max wanted to hear something like, "All this time, I didn't know how much I cared. But I do care about you, Max, and everyone else," but it never came out from the voice message Nathan had left.

One thing about his truly had changed in the missed call, he had called her Max, and was crying over the phone, pleading with her. Like he knew she would be able to save him. Yet here she was in the Two Whales diner, he, Mark Jefferson, Victoria (who had been kidnapped and killed by Jefferson), Rachel Amber and Chloe were all dead. None of them had said some much as a goodbye (not that Max wanted one from Jefferson, that fucking pig).

"Warren, do you have the photograph?" Max asked, her voice shaking as tears spilled from her eyes in explanation of what had happened in the last 24 hours. He nodded, slowly retrieving the Polaroid shot he had taken the night before while drunk. Warren placed it on the table, he had believed Max about the time traveling, and told her outright that the storm was her fault, but that she could fix it too.

Maybe that was why it was so easy to kiss him after this whole time. But she wished she had kissed someone else too (no, not Chloe, Max had turned that offer down quite quickly). And that someone else was now dead, thanks to her.

Max stepped back from Warren, moving her attention to the photograph. When she blinked a few times, Warren had his arm slung around her shoulders lazily, his breath reeked of those two beers he had. Max rushed Chloe off quickly, explaining the situation to a very pissed off punk teen, at least Chloe cooled off by the time she had finished explaining everything. They rushed back to the junkyard, to the little metal fort that Rachel and Chloe had used and called David to find the bunker.

Jefferson was arrested then and there after he had tried to kidnap Victoria. Nathan was also taken away after he was found shivering and crying in the woods near the junkyard.

But the storm was still going to hit, Chloe and Max had somehow gone to the beach (a side effect of Max's power was that she couldn't remember certain memories after she went back in time through a photo) and were staring at the monster tornado heading straight for Arcadia Bay.

Max didn't remember running up the hill, she was blacked out in her own personal Hell, where Jefferson had said he loved her (and she confessed she did too against her better judgment), and was then ducking out of the way of torches and spotlights to not be caught, everyone wanted her. But there was still no Nathan in sight in her nightmare, no matter how much she wished it, hell, even Victoria wasn't.

"One last time, Max, go back in time," Chloe pulled out a Polaroid shot, the blue butterfly photo Max had taken in the bathroom on Monday. "Look at how many times I've nearly died or have died around your this week. I don't want to die, but you saving my life is obviously fucking with something."

"I can't, Chloe, I can't lose you."

"You have to, now. This Chaos Theory shit has gone too far, and the whole of Arcadia Bay is worth more than me.* Please, do this for me." Chloe pulled Max into a tight hug, the pair whispering how much they loved each other, talking about their friendship, before Chloe pulled away. Max walked near the edge of the cliff, turning when Chloe said, "Don't forget about me!"

"Never," Max replied, pulling her focus to the photo. The next moment, she was in the bathroom, taking a photo of the butterfly. She let the photo drop onto the tiled floor, then listened for when Nathan would come in.

The same scenario she had heard twice before played out, this time, Chloe lay dead on the bathroom floor, with Nathan shaking her lifeless body to stir some kind of response. When he gone none, he paced, he didn't leave the room. Max slowly stepped out from behind the wall she had sunk down to the floor on, silent tears still streaming down her face. Nathan had dropped his gun when he saw Max, he stood frozen with horror and shock written all over his face. A look of sympathy also spread across when he saw how much Max was crying over the girl.

But he hadn't expected her arms to find their way around his waist as she sobbed into his chest, he became frozen from the gesture then, however one of his hands moved to the back of her head. He patted the spot, Nathan was never a consoling type of person.

"I didn't mean to," Nathan muttered, a shaking breath escaping from his mouth as he struggled to not cry along with Max, a girl who he hated because she wasn't in his elite class and Victoria despised. That wasn't a reason to hate someone, but he couldn't think anything else of her apart from what Victoria had said.

"I know you didn't." Max released herself and stepped back, looking Nathan straight in the eyes. "I'll visit you in jail, I just hope that Jefferson gets worse than you do."

Nathan was left standing in the bathroom, stunned. How did Max know he was close with Jefferson? And why would she visit him when he went to prison? Nathan did know he was going to be incarcerated when he suddenly was tackled to the ground from behind him.

After all of the shit she had gone through, Max held out her hand, after she had scribbled a little note on a yellow sticky note (it read, 'I 3 Warren, and Nathan'). Nothing happened, her powers were gone. Chloe had given her life, to save Max, her family and all of Arcadia Bay. Max would live her life to the fullest, knowing that Chloe would finally be at peace, hopefully with her dad.

* ** _At the end of episode 5, there is a choice to either save Chloe and sacrifice Arcadia Bay, or save Arcadia Bay and sacrifice Chloe. The choice I wrote down here was the one that I picked (yes, I brought the game and played through it.). The personal Hell that Max went to wasn't described in full detail, but I felt that instead of writing out how Max ends up going through several doors (Kate harassing her about saving her life and not allowing her to jump) was pointless to this story and should be experienced._**

 ** _However, when I wrote down about Max and Jefferson saying they loved each other, well that was a choice in the game that I picked (I got curious and thought I could rewind, but I couldn't), in this episode however, it did seem like Jefferson was conveying romantic feelings toward Max. Evident at the start of the episode and at the part I have just mentioned._**

 ** _And I did have Warren and Max kiss (I also squealed when it happened, because despite my stories, I think Max should evidently be with Warren, but I won't say exactly how they turn out because the game doesn't actually specify that at the end)._**

 ** _So, long bloody Author's Note, but this is the first bit of writing I've done for a fandom in about 8 weeks (a friend of mine was missing and killed and I had to grieve for a bit). I don't want sympathy for that either, she hated people giving her sympathy and I really should follow her example despite was has happened. But I'm back, and hopefully I'll be doing more writing, I've just got to start thinking creatively again and luckily this game got me in the mood to write._**

 ** _Hope you all enjoyed, and if you want me to write more one shots for LIS then I'll try to (I will try to work on my stories more too)._**


End file.
